Xi kitba ta' Salvu Mallia

Battibekk ma' ex Deputat Nazzjonalista

Despite mounting internal pressure
to take action, the Nationalist Party leadership would neither say whether it
dissociated itself nor what it intended to do with regard to comments that were
made by former TV presenter-turned candidate Salvu Mallia. The controversy was
sparked by a series of posts Mr Mallia uploaded last week on his Facebook
account using colourful and even foul language, while hurling abuse at the
Labour government and its supporters. … “The least the party could have done
was to immediately disassociate itself from such statements and, if necessary,
take disciplinary action against Mr Mallia to prevent such an embarrassing
incident from repeating itself,” the sources said.

Timesofmalta.com Monday,
December 19, 2016, 06:35

Salvu Mallia, often described as the
PN’s “star candidate”, lashed out at the Labour Party and hurled abuse at its
supporters using colourful and even foul language. As expected, his outburst
raised eyebrows within the PN, including among high-ranking officials. Yet, the
PN, and, particularly, its leader, Simon Busuttil, appear too reluctant to take
a stand, giving rise to concerns from within of a “weak” leadership. Is it possible
Dr Busuttil is happy with the situation? Does he not realise the longer he
decides to do something about it the more the damage he would be causing to
himself and to his party? Is he resigned to share the same fate as his
predecessor who appeared too weak to tackle a vociferous MP?

Editorjal, The Times 29.12.2016

Mr Mallia's comments also ruffled
feathers on the European continent, with the Party of European Socialists
releasing a statement calling on PN leader Simon Busuttil to "immediately
disown" Mr Mallia's statement that Adolf Hitler was "very
progressive". "If Mr Busuttil does not have the courage even to stand
up to one of his own candidates who has so clearly crossed the line, then he
certainly does not have the necessary attributes to lead Malta's official
opposition, never mind to stand for election to government," PES president
Sergei Stanishev said. He said it was "tasteless" for a political
candidate to invoke Hitler when criticising Joseph Muscat.

Timesofmalta.com Monday,
January 9, 2017, 09:27

The problem for Mallia and the PN is
that by his behaviour he is at great risk of not being taken seriously. His
very attri­butes, which he displays so exuberantly, are prompting raised
eyebrows and even derision, and make easy targets for attacks on the party. In
expressing himself so fiercely against Muscat, Mallia has crossed a few lines.
His drawing of parallels and comparisons with Hitler and the plague, however he
explains them, jar badly. His resorting to foul language is distasteful and
off-putting to those who look for dignity and decorum in their politicians.
Surely he does not need to stoop to vulgarities to make his points: he has
amply proven this in the well-argued articles he has written for this newspaper
in the recent past. Another cause of concern for PN exponents are his
“ultra-liberal” beliefs, his position in favour of free choice in abortion and
euthanasia, which is incompa­tible with the party’s principles. When he said in
an interview last week that “the PN should adopt my policies” he surely does
not expect the PN to depart so radically from its own. The biggest worry
internally may be that if he were ever elected as an MP he might one day do a
Franco Debono (in action, not motive) and cause trouble no end for a future
Nationalist government. Indeed, he has projected himself as the guardian of
virtue in politics and would not hesitate to rebel if he thought a PN
government was deviating from the straight and narrow. Bully for him.

His criticism of his own party and
its leader, which he believes are not talking tough enough against government
corruption, reflects his belief that in a democracy he should be free to
express himself in any way he pleases. And he is absolutely right. He needs to
consider, however, that in adopting the same objective as the PN, he would be
more effective as a disciplined team player.

Editorjal, The Times 15.1.2017

Salvu Mallia withdrew from a public
showdown with the Equality Minister’s husband Patrick Dalli yesterday after
being “persuaded” to tone down his approach, this newspaper has learnt. The latest controversy surrounding
the presenter-turned-candidate erupted following remarks which he made about
Minister Helena Dalli, whom he called “a bitch”. Mr Mallia was reacting to a
story published by The Malta Independent which said that her youngest son was
put on the State payroll as a member of the Economy Ministry’s secretariat. Aggrieved
by the remark, the minister’s husband on Friday challenged the PN candidate to
a face-to-face meeting, at Café Cordina in Valletta on Saturday morning at 10am. Mr Mallia not only obliged but
notified his followers about the encounter through Facebook. News of what
promised to be a highly-charged face-off – but a potentially embarrassing event
for the PN given Mallia’s reputation as a loose cannon – was soon being
reported by several news portals. The first signs that something was brewing at
the PN headquarters came two hours later when Mr Mallia posted an update saying
he could only make it at noon as he had just been invited to a PN
news conference. Speculation was further fuelled yesterday morning when the PN
candidate, stopping just short of making an apology, said he would never again
use such a term against the Equality Minister. Subsequently, the encounter was
cancelled, with a PN spokesman saying that Mr Dalli was indisposed. Opposition
leader Simon Busuttil has come to the defence of Mr Mallia on more than one
occasion, saying he had made politics “interesting”. However, party sources who
spoke to The Sunday Times of Malta confirmed that away from the public eye, the
scenario was quite different. “The invitation to the news conference was part
of a deal to persuade him to stay away from the showdown with Mr Dalli,” they
said. “In recent days it was made amply clear to him that he must toe the party
line and tone down his approach. To his credit, Mr Mallia was forthcoming and
is doing his best to restrain himself,” they added.

Timesofmalta.com Sunday,
January 22, 2017, 14:00

PN candidate Salvu Mallia, who is
unlikely to get elected, said he was fed up of hearing “bullshit” on Net TV.

Timesofmalta.com Sunday,
June 4, 2017 16:56

The election result cruelly revealed
Simon Busuttil’s lack of streetwise acumen. Two decisions taken solely by him,
before they had to be rubber-stamped by the rest of the leadership team and the
PN executive, stick out. One was the crazy idea that Salvu Mallia could make a
good PN candidate.

Michael Falzon ex Ministru
Nazzjonalista

Maltatoday.com.mt 13
June 2017, 7:30am

He (Simon Busuttil) was definitely a
liability to the PN when he handpicked Rosette Thake for secretary general of
the PN and also when he, unilaterally, approved Salvu Mallia as a general
election candidate.

Xi argumenti ta' Mallia

He (Joseph Muscat) never showed on
iota of goodwill since elected as Prime Minister.

Timesofmalta.com 8.1.2017

Joseph Muscat is an evil man.

Timesofmalta.com 8.1.2017

I voted Labour in the last five
minutes. I went to cast my vote in Birkirkara and in front of me there was
Edward Scicluna, today’s Finance Minister. Honestly, I said to myself: “If this
guy thinks these guys are good, there must be something to it.” That tipped the
balance towards Labour. It was a spur of the moment decision.